


A Great Gallery of Children, A Great Flying Ace, and A Great War

by Pioneeringvoyager785



Category: Historical RPF, Peanuts - Charles M. Schulz (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War I, Charlie Brown has anxiety, Gen, If you know this series you know why it is a technicality, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Technically an AU, World War I
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29392836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pioneeringvoyager785/pseuds/Pioneeringvoyager785
Summary: One of the most well-known scenes in Peanuts is Snoopy’s role as the World War 1 flying ace. It has been reused dozens of times throughout animation, comic strips, books, video games and graphic novels in the fifty-six years since its introduction. This story expands upon the idea much like the Snoopy vs the Red Baron video game did nearly fifteen years ago. Though, it takes inspiration from the “This is America…” miniseries, putting the children in their actual roles as children (but still have the good insight they have in the strips and animation). In this fanfic, Linus and Lucy live in the neutral Netherlands in the absence of their father, and endure the trial of housing several child refugees all while their mother is pregnant with their household’s third child. Meanwhile, in America, a beagle encounters a pilot, heroically saving him, and eventually is trained on how to fly a plane. Later, a certain tomboy and a pair of beagles stowaway on a ship, making their way to Europe.Credits for the series go to the late Charles Schultz for the characters and series. Also, I credit the late Bill Melendez for bringing the scene to life through animation.
Relationships: Charlie Brown & Linus van Pelt, Charlie Brown & Sally Brown, Linus van Pelt & Lucy van Pelt, Schroeder & Lucy van Pelt





	A Great Gallery of Children, A Great Flying Ace, and A Great War

A hard knock pounds on the door of the van Pelt residence. A boy, relatively thin in hairline stands up from his chair. He turns, catching the sight of his dark-haired older sister. Seeing his apprehensive look toward her, she immediately furrows her brows. _“You’re still the man of the house. Dad still hasn’t returned,_ ” she scowls. _“Go answer that door!”_

Silently, the boy obeys, and immediately opens the door, unprepared for the sight on the other side. The door moves along its hinges, slowly revealing the sight of four Dutch soldiers accompanied by a well-dressed man wearing a trench coat and bowler hat.

_“Is this the residence of Hendrik van Pelt?”_ the man asks the boy.

Taken aback by both the soldiers and the question, the boy stammers, “ _Y-yes sir.”_

“ _I’m sure you’re aware of our nation’s neutrality during this unprecedented time of this eh…Great War. Our division has examined the papers filed by Mr. Hans van Pelt, and it was found he offered to use this residence to board refugees. Is Mr. van Pelt home at this time?”_

The boy glances back into the house, watching his sister’s gestures. Seeing her shake her head, he turns back to the soldiers and their apparent superior. _“No sir,”_ the boy says simply. _“He’s overseas now handling business. I don’t know when he’ll return.”_

“ _I see. Are you his son?”_

Through the corner of his eye, the boy sees his sister’s nod. The boy felt a pit of guilt festering in his chest. As far as his household was concerned, his sister was the one in charge of them in their father’s absence. He barely could handle the thought, let alone the act of lying to these men.

_“Yes sir. I am his son… his only son.”_

_“Ah. So, he’s left you in charge. A big responsibility no doubt.”_

He knew the man, probably a representative of a government service, would make such a statement. He immediately glanced over to his sister, nodding. Acknowledging his nonverbal gesture, she nods, leaving the front room. He knew she’d get their mother. Once she arrived, this ordeal with the refugee representative would be quickly resolved, right?

The representative eyed him suspiciously.

 _“I just asked my sister to get our mother,”_ The boy explains, “ _I’m sure she probably has a better idea about my father. I’m afraid I know little to nothing about this paperwork.”_

Faint creaking and footsteps rang out above the boy. He sighs in relief. His mother was on her way.

 _“That’s fine. Just curious, when did your father leave?_ ”

The boy’s eyes widen in confusion. _“I thought people in the government like you would be told something like that during a war._ ”

At the moment, the door opened wider, and the figure of his mother enters the corner of the boy’s right eye.

 _“What about refugees and my husband?_ ” the mother asks.

 _“Ah… Mrs. van Pelt,”_ the representative said, _“Maybe you can clear a few things with us._ ”

 _“Of course,”_ the van Pelt matriarch replies. _“What business with us?”_

_“I was sent here by the Koninklijke Landmacht to inform your husband Hendrik of the military’s intent to house a pair of refugees.”_

_“We never expected to actually house anyone… unless the situation is that serious.”_

_“It is. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. We simply intended to ask your husband for approval to move the two refugees in since they have completed their interrogations.”_

_“That is no problem. My husband should return in a few days.”_

The representative had a cold look on his face. _“Madam, the circumstances are quite urgent.”_

_“How urgent?”_

_“The refugees are children. American children, separated from their parents. It was difficult for our translator to get them to say much at all.”_ The representative glances over at one of the soldiers near him. The boy saw the soldier’s face, noticing his exhausted look. Perhaps this man was one of the individuals who interrogated the children. _“My superiors believe your household might be more helpful since your husband mentioned in the documents that both you and your children are proficient in English.”_

The boy thought back to the time’s when his father had taught both him and his sister English.

…

“ _Son. You need to know this language. It’s a requirement if we ever are going to emigrate across the Atlantic,”_ the boy’s father said as he put his hand on his shoulder.

_“You know it because of that bank you work for?”_

_“Yes son. Its headquarters are in New York City in America. If all goes well, we will be moving over there soon.”_

An excited look glowed on the boy’s face. The prospect of a home in a faraway land seemed like a dream. He looked over to his sister, seeing her equally excited face.

“I’ll become a richest girl,” she said under her breath in English.

He smirked at her mistake as she spoke.

 _“Why are you looking at me like that?!”_ she demanded furiously, seeing the boy’s expression.

…

“ _How many children?”_ the mother asks.

 _“Two of them: A brother and sister. They insist on remaining together,”_ the representative replies.

The boy saw his mother’s sympathetic look. There was no way she wouldn’t say yes to more children in their house.

 _“I want to take them in,”_ she says to the soldiers.

The representative gestured to the rearmost two soldiers, instructing them to each move to the sides of the path in front of the van Pelts’ home. The soldiers did as they were told, and stepped off the path into the grass. In their place behind them were two children. The shorter child was a blond girl with back flipped curls and a small puff of hair above her forehead. The taller child was nearly bald, only having a single long curl of hair drooping from his hairline downward on his forehead.

 _“You think that’s them, Linus?”_ A voice whispers from behind the young Dutch boy standing at the door.

He turns and sees the sight of his sister’s curious look.

 _“I don’t know,”_ Linus silently mouths to her.

If her guess was right, they would be sharing the house with them in a matter of moments. Another realization dawned in Linus’s head. Why would the military send refugees with their representatives during a boarding request? Unless… someone in a higher rank already knew he or his mother would approve refugees on the spot. Many questions ran through the younger van Pelt sibling. Who in military knows his father? Why are they allowing this? What made them believe his family would take these children in without a second thought? None of these circumstances made any sense to Linus. The most glaring question of all was why his father would mention their entire household’s knowledge of the English language?

The van Pelt siblings watches as their teary-eyed mother stares at the American children. The representative nods again to one of the soldiers. The soldier nods once and turns to his comrade behind him.

The soldier leaned down to the children, whispering something to them. Linus couldn’t hear all of what was exchanged, but he did hear the words: “This will be your new home for now,” in English. Once the soldier finished his message, he stood back up as the children began to walk toward the door of the van Pelt’s home. The taller, bald American boy had nervous smile across his mouth, trying his best to fight what was likely a huge adversity on his plate. The blonde had a sour look on her face. To Linus, it looked as if she wanted to let everyone know she didn’t appreciate the situation she was entering. As they reached the door, they stopped, locking eyes with Linus. Was it the first time they noticed him?

Then, the two American children looked into the house. Linus followed their gaze, noticing his sister watching the sight unfold. The Americans made one final glance at the soldiers before walking into the house. Intent on welcoming them, Linus followed them into his family’s home. He made quick glance of his own, noticing his mother was still talking with the representative. He tried not dwell any further on it as he turned back to his household’s new residents. 

All four children were completely silent. The tension building in the room was thicker than pea soup. After a full two minutes, Linus finally plucked up courage and broke the silence.

"Hello..." he began, slightly nervous, "My name is Linus, and the girl with the black hair over there is my sister Lucy."

Linus took a deep breath. "I'm sure you two have been through a lot, and we understand if you don't want to talk too much right away. All of us in this family know English... pretty well, so don't be afraid to talk to us." Linus gave his best voice to sound polite. This certainly wasn't the desirable circumstance to welcome new faces into their family. "What are your names? If that representative said it, I don't think I caught your names."

The American children remained completely quiet, looking back and forth between each other. Linus began to worry if his English was too much for them. Maybe he had a thick accent to his English and he didn't realize.

A low mumble came from the American boy. "mmm..." 

Linus's eyes widened as he saw the nearly bald boy's frightened expression. "Mmm...my ...my name is Ch-Charlie Brown. A-and this is my sister, Sally." He felt relieved that he got one of them to talk.

"Yes... we've been through a lot of stuff," Charlie continues nervously. "And... it wasn't exactly good."

Linus could tell by that statement that these refugees will be a difficult trial for the foreseeable future.


End file.
